The Purpose-full Church: An Overview
(NTC4T-4)
I. Discovering the Purposes of the Church
A. Purpose-Driven vs. Program-Driven
B. Why Be Purpose Driven?
C. The Great Commandment
D. The Great Commission
Introduction
Years ago on a variety show, a guest appeared who was a body builder. The crowd went crazy as he entered the stage with his huge muscular body and began to flex his muscles and show his power. After a brief demonstration, the body builder sat down and prepared to receive some questions from the audience. The first question asked of him was this: “What do you use all those muscles for?” Without answering, the body builder again stood up and began flexing his muscles while the crowd cheered wildly.
A second time, the question was asked, “What do you do with those muscles?” Again, the body builder flexed his muscles and the crowd became almost ecstatic.
After asking three times, “What do you do with all those muscles?” the body builder just sat in silence and had no answers. The man possessed a tremendous amount of power, but his power had no purpose other than to show off and bring attention to himself.
I believe there are a lot of people in the world today that are asking the same kind of question as they look at the Church. They look inquisitively at the average church gathering and say, “I see the beautiful building and the list of activities. I hear the joyous music and notice the smiles on people’s faces. But what do you really do? Why do you get together every week? What are you really accomplishing? What is your purpose for existing?” And, like the body builder, many Christians don’t have answers to these questions. But these are questions that have answers and deserve to be answered.
Last week we looked at the definition and biblical basis of the Church. We took special note of the fact that Jesus told His disciples that He was in the process of bringing something new into being. He said to them, “I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it” (Matthew 16:18b). In this declaration, Jesus promised that His building project would be successful and that these men would be instrumental in bringing about its full realization. This call to partner with Christ in His building project was not limited to the first disciples, but it has been given to each successive generation until the return of our Lord.
The Church that Jesus is building in not without reason. He is not just building a Church because He thinks it’s a nice idea, or because He is bored with what He has created up to this point—like a child bored with a box full of old toys. Rather, He is building His Church on purpose and it is “purpose-full”—that is, it is full of purpose. This morning we will focus on this idea of the purpose-full Church by giving a rationale for being “purpose-driven” and with a discovery of the purposes of the Church.
Discovering the Purposes of the Church
Much of what I will be giving to you this morning is based upon insights gleaned from Rick Warren’s best-selling book, The Purpose-Driven Church. To give you a little background, Rick Warren is the senior pastor at Saddleback Church in southern California. He has been used by God to help hundreds of churches across the US and around the world get back to the basics of NT Christianity and become purposeful in their approach to ministry.
Purpose-Driven vs. Program-Driven
Doug Fields, youth pastor at Saddleback Church, summarizes the major premise of The Purpose-Driven Church in this way: “all churches are driven by either a verbal or nonverbal emphasis. A church may be driven by tradition, personality, finances, people, or programs, but none of these will build health…. A healthy church must be built on the five New Testament purposes” (PDYM, p. 45).
I believe that one of the main reasons that people outside of the Church have a difficult time understanding what the Church is all about is because of the people inside the Church. (Now, before anyone gets offended by that statement, I want emphasize the fact that I am one of the people inside the Church—so I’m not pointing my finger at anyone without first pointing it at myself.) So, why do I see it this way? Why do I view church people as a chief cause for misunderstandings about the Church by those who do not claim any association with the Church?
It originates from the fact that most church people perceive the Church from the vantage point of what they see as “the drive” behind their particular church. We associate what drives our church as our church’s identity. And our local identity then becomes the identity of the Church. Let me give you one example.
One of the common ways that churches are driven and/or gain their identity is through programs. I choose to talk at length about being program-driven rather than being driven by these other forces because I think that, given our context, we can more easily relate to this area than to the others.
We all know what it means for a church to be identified by its programming. One church is known for its youth program. Another is known for its music program. Still others are known for their Sunday school, or Evangelism Explosion, or food cupboard, or puppets, or after school program, and the list goes on and on. And all of these programs are good activities and can be used by God to effectively impact our community for Christ. However, programs must be seen in their proper perspective—they are things we do, not who we are. When we are program-driven and find our identity in what we do rather than who we are, we usually wind up propagating a brand of “consumer Christianity.”
What I mean by this is that we have convinced ourselves and others that a particular church is to be valued or not valued based on what it does or does not do. This is the primary motivation behind all the “church shopping” that we see so prevalent in our society. People surf the Internet to find out what a church’s activities calendar has on it. Or they enter the doors of a church building asking, “What does your church have to offer me and my family in the way of programs and activities?” So we tell them about the regular features and the specials or hand them a welcome packet listing all the items they can choose from (kind of sounds like we’re in the restaurant business). Then they “try it on” like a pair of shoes to see if “it fits.”
But I don’t fault people in the world for viewing the Church this way—we are to blame because they are simply mimicking what they see in us. We have communicated to the world through our program-driven orientation that the Church is simply another social service agency, and if they don’t like what they see in one location, then they should just drive around until they find one that “fits.” It is also the reason that we often times have a hard time filling ministry positions within our body—we see ourselves as consumers rather than as responsible members within a family (but that’s another sermon!). Program-driven churches breed consumerism.
Having said all that, let’s look at what it means to be pur-pose-driven vs. program-driven.
Purpose defines our existence. It is what we are called by God to be. It is our true identity. It is our created intention. It is a matter of our being or essence. It is who we are.
Please turn with me to the book of Ephesians (p. 869). I want to look at some of the pictures of the Church that are portrayed for us in this epistle. Throughout this short letter we find that Paul gives us a number of snapshots—they give us some clues as to what our true identity is all about. We’ll take a look at one picture in each of the five chapters.
First, look at 1:22-23—here the Church is depicted as the body of Christ, His fullness. Turn to 2:21-22—we are a holy temple…being built together to become God’s dwelling place. Now look at 3:10-11—we display the manifold wisdom of God to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, that is, we are making a declaration to heav-enly/spiritual beings. Go to 4:13—we are to be moving toward unity in faith and knowledge, maturity, and the attainment of the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. And finally, 5:25-27—we are called to be holy, clean, radiant, unblemished, and blameless. That’s just a sampling of what God has in mind when He thinks about His Church.
In contrast to purpose, program describes our activity. It is how we go about fulfilling God’s purpose for us—be it through Sunday school, outreach events, or age, gender, or marital status-specific groups. A program can be a useful and even necessary tool—I’m not anti-program. But it is essential that we remind ourselves that a program is something we do, not who we are. A program is to be seen as a means to an end, and not as an end in itself.
One of the main reasons that it is imperative that we keep the relationship between purpose and program in the proper perspective is because how we fulfill God’s purposes will, of necessity, change with the changing needs of the church and the community…. Most of the things that we do in our church are the result of someone seeing a need and coming up with a God-inspired idea to meet that need (A/V = effective communication).
How we fulfill God’s purposes will, of necessity, change with the changing needs of the church and the community, but why we exist remains ever the same.
As I already mentioned, programs aren’t the only issues that can drive a church and draw our attention away from our intended purposes. For some churches it’s a struggle between Purpose vs. Tradition. When we chose to hang on tenaciously to our traditions and attribute worth to them on the basis of “that’s the way we’ve always done it” or something similar, we communicate to the world around us that we’re really not interested them if they don’t like the way we do things here. Traditions are not bad or wrong so long as they are relevant and serve the purposes of the Church. But all too often traditions are maintained and preserved for tradition’s sake—we fail to see that they are no longer fulfilling their intended purpose.
In other churches it’s a competition between Purpose vs. Personality. It could be the pastor or a key official or unofficial member in the church. It could be a group of individuals in the church, like a board or committee. Regardless of the composition of the “personality,” it is a church that is driven by a persuasive voice rather than by God’s voice. Everyone knows not to move forward without first consulting “so and so” or this group. Everyone also knows not to cross this individual or group.
In other churches the central focus is on Purpose vs. Finances. Finance-driven churches come in all shapes and sizes. They can be quite wealthy or what we might consider poverty-stricken. Lack or abundance is not the issue—it is trust in and belief that material resources should determine ministry direction. A church might have a wealthy individual who wants to see a ministry started, so he gives a sizable amount to the church with the stipulation that it be used toward that end. Another church may feel that all it can do is simply huddle together and hope to survive for another day. And there are a variety of other scenarios that can be played out in between. The point is, these churches let the almighty dollar do the talking rather than Almighty God.
And in still other churches the lines are drawn between Purpose vs. People. These are churches that focus all their resources and energies on meeting the needs of a specific type or group of people like themselves or whom they’d like to reach. And the motives could be pure, but misdirected. When we focus only on people and seek to acquiesce to their needs, we run the risk of turning the good news for all people into the good news for only the right kind of people (i.e., Adirondack Andy).
Given the variety of ways that churches pursue their identity, is it any wonder why people outside the Church are confused by their observations of the churches around them?
In support of purpose-driven approach to ministry, Rick Warren writes,
Strong churches are built on purpose! By focusing equally on all five of the New Testament purposes of the church, your church will develop the healthy balance that makes lasting growth possible. Proverbs 19:21 says, “Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.” Plans, programs, and personalities don’t last. But God’s purposes will last…. Unless the driving force behind a church is biblical, the health and growth of the church will never be what God intended. Strong churches are not built on programs, personalities, or gimmicks. They are built on the eternal purposes of God (The Purpose-Driven Church, pp. 81, 83).
Why Be Purpose Driven?
While it may seem altogether obvious, I want to take the time to explain further why it is so important that our church be a purpose-driven church. Let me quickly give you three reasons why we should be purpose driven in our approach to ministry.
The first reason we should be purpose-driven in our approach is to clarify the direction of the ministry. We need to know where we are headed so we can know if we have arrived or are at least making progress toward our destination. Being purpose-driven keeps us from heading in the wrong direction. It prevents us from getting involved in things that would distract/hinder us from fulfilling our purpose. It establishes boundaries or parameters within which to serve our King. It provides a standard by which we can determine if a suggested course of action is going to move us closer to or farther from God’s intention for us.
The second reason we should be purpose-driven in our approach is to minimize the conflict within the ministry. Often times conflicts arise within a church because our focus is on programs, traditions, personalities, finances, or people and our pursuit of these things prevents us from seeing what is truly important. Being purpose-driven removes us from the pull of the many voices vying for control and places us in a position where we can move forward at the bidding of God. When everyone understands the purposes of the Church and is desirous of fulfilling those purposes, then issues such as personal preference or power struggles lose their grip.
The third reason we should be purpose-driven in our approach is to maximize the excitement for the ministry. Lack of enthusiasm or passion can result when the church becomes a place of busy activity, but no one is really certain that what is being done is accomplishing anything meaningful. Being purpose-driven helps us to see that what we are doing is meaningful and accomplishing our God-intended purpose.
So what are God’s purposes for the Church? We can see God’s purpose and design for the Church in several verses throughout the NT. However, we are only going to look at two passages in Matthew’s Gospel. In these words of Jesus we have summarization of the five purposes of the Church.
The Great Commandment
The first passage we want to look at is commonly referred to as the Great Commandment. It is found in Matthew 22:36-40 (p. 736 and on the screen). Let’s look at these verses together. [Read]
The context in which Jesus gives this answer is in response to a question asked by an expert in the law who was attempting to find something that he could use against Him in a possible future court proceeding. He points the lawyer to two OT references that he was well acquainted with. And the lawyer had no further questions to ask.
The Great Commission
The second passage we want to look at is commonly referred to as the Great Commission. It is found in Matthew 28:18-20 (p. 743 and on the screen). Please read along with me. [Read]
The context of this passage is just prior to Jesus’ ascension into heaven. These words represent a declaration of victory, a command to be obeyed, and a message of hope.
Contained within these passages is a synopsis of the five biblical purposes of the Church. Two of these purposes are found in the Great Commandment. The first is Worship: Love the Lord your God.... The second purpose we see in these verses is Service: Love your neighbor as yourself.
Within the Great Commission, we find other three pur-poses of the Church. Go and make disciples points us to the purpose of Evangelism. Baptizing them speaks to the purpose of Fellowship. And teaching them to obey refers to the purpose of Disciplemaking.
Conclusion
This is all the time we have this morning to investigate these matters. Next week we will finish up this message by defining those purposes and we’ll take a look at an example of a purpose-full church.
